The Department of Community Planning offers interdisciplinary guidance on growth, development and preservation of the region through analysis and review of applicable regulations. We provide information to the public and the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission concerning growth and development in the region for informed decision making. The department includes Subdivision and Land Development Review, Geographic Information Systems, Historic Preservation and Urban Design.

The LVPC reviews subdivision and land development plans from Lehigh Valley municipalities relative to the policies of the Comprehensive Plan The Lehigh Valley ... 2030. Since 1972, the subdivision activity report has been updated annually to provide an overview of development activity during the year.

In December 2015, the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC) released the 2010-2014 Housing Market Report. The report is the continuation of two previous reports, titled Home Buying During Economic Uncertainty: Housing Sales in the Lehigh Valley, PA 2008-2012 and Housing in the Lehigh Valley published by the LVPC in 2014 and 2009, respectively. In addition, the 2014 Regional Housing Plan, a comprehensive look at housing opportunities in the Lehigh Valley, had a portion revisited through the lens of housing sales in the report. The Housing Market Report provides valuable information for municipal staff, elected officials, housing professionals and the general public on housing sales.

Home Buying during Economic Uncertainty: Housing Sales in the Lehigh Valley 2008-2012

Owning a home is considered a part of the American Dream. What happens to this dream when the national economy is reeling from uncertainty on Wall Street and other financial markets? Housing sales data is important data in analyzing housing demand and can provide a clear picture about the health of the housing market and to a lesser degree, the regional economy from year to year. This report provides a local analysis of housing sales from 2008 – 2012 at the regional, county, municipal and school district level.

Energy powers our daily lives from heating and cooling our homes and offices to our modes of transportation. Pricing and availability go hand and hand with energy and its consumption. In order to make practical decisions about energy consumption and conservation an existing baseline must be established. The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s staff developed an information packet consisting of baseline energy data on the state and region. The packet was developed to assist the LVPC’s Environment Committee craft goals, policies and strategies for the energy element of the Lehigh Valley Comprehensive Plan. The committee believes the information contained in the packet such as: Energy Sources, Energy Pricing, House Heating Fuel for Occupied Units and Heat Calculator are timely for the discussion on powering the valley for the future.

Street Connectivity - Improving the Function and Performance of Your Local Streets

Connectivity is an analysis of the number and variety of connections serving origins such as residential neighborhoods and destinations like schools and shopping areas. Connectivity relates to the number of intersections along a segment of streets and how the entire area is connected to the system. Good street connectivity means providing a variety of ways to get from Point A to B, from using the car to walking. The recommendations in this report are geared toward improving the efficiency of mobility (i.e. ease of movement) and accessibility (i.e. the ability to go from an origin to a desired destination). The benefits of better connectivity go beyond improved mobility and accessibility and can include less traffic congestion, safer streets, municipal cost savings in the provision of services, and reduced need to improve arterial streets.

Transit Oriented Development, commonly referred to as TOD, has become a much discussed development concept in recent years. Nationwide attention has been focused on TODs as a development concept that can be used to achieve multiple smart growth and sustainable development objectives. TODs have been promoted and built in numerous large metropolitan areas across the country.

The purpose of this report is to introduce the TOD concept to the Lehigh Valley and assess its potential local applicability using rigorous data based analysis. The report assesses the conditions, criteria, and design elements necessary to build TODs that establish an actual connection between transit and development, rather than developments that merely use the term for marketing purposes. The goals and policies contained in the Comprehensive Plan The Lehigh Valley ... 2030 agree with many of the smart growth outcomes that TODs seek to produce.

The report contains a critical assessment of potential Lehigh Valley sites with regard to how each site meets the identified criteria.